First thing's first. Torrens is (for now) no longer a Yankee. He's currently in the care of the Padres. Honestly the Padres fit into the teams I don't like or dislike so the fact that he's on there is good in my books. Better than the Reds who suck in my opinion.

Second, Torrens was traded to the Padres, but the requirement for him to be on the 25-man roster (or MLB DL) throughout the entire 2017 season for the Padres to keep him remains. Either that or give up something to the Yankees to keep Torrens.

Torrens is currently the 23rd best prospect in San Diego (MLB Pipeline)

Third, it's because of that that I'm pretty confident he'll be back in pinstripes. Torrens is a 20 year old catcher who's yet to reach high-A. He won't stay on the 25 man roster no matter how much of an improvement he is over whoever the Padres have now. Is he the type of player worth giving up an asset for to keep? IDK, we'll see if the Padres think so in a few months.

And if Torrens doesn't come back. Well, just add this Rule 5 Draft to the long list of things where 2016 went wrong.

So what if Torrens doesn't come back? What am I going to do with my Torrens collection? Am I going to switch to being a Padres fan? Will I be able to keep my soul after turning into a Padres fan?

Well if Torrens doesn't come back, I'll wish him the best in San Diego. I won't be able to see him because the Padres affiliates are like a million miles away, but maybe just maybe I can squeeze his MLB debut into a trip out west (I've actually never been to California so...).

So how about turning into a Padres fan if Torrens stays in San Diego? Well it wouldn't be the worst thing. I know Padres fans complain about being mediocre all of the time and only having a mediocre farm system to show for it, but they now have Luis Torrens in their ranks and that's all I need. I honestly don't care for the big league Padres and just focusing on Torrens would be quite good. I don't think I can really care about the non-Torrens Padres.

As for my collection I have three options. This is all assuming Torrens is lost to the Padres forever.
One is to just keep collecting him, Padres and all.
Another is to just focus on his Yankees era stuff.
The third option is to just burn my entire collection.

The problem with the second one is that it's really easy to be all like "I'll only collect his Yankees-era cards" now, but then be really tempted when a really nice Padres card of his pops up. And since he'll be in Padres unis, the prices should be far cheaper. I'm going to stick with the first option and see where it goes from there. Right now, Torrens has still yet to have an official card since 2014.

So what about the post-Torrens Yankees? No really, what about them? At this point in time all of my favorite players are scattered about. The Yankees have been the team I've invested the most time and cardboard money into, will that end? Meh, they still have Thairo Estrada but not much else for me. I don't know, what are the odds the other international free agent guys like Nelson Gomez, Wilkerman Garcia and Dermis Garcia can change that in the upcoming years? Seeing how low of a priority even Estrada is for me, I doubt it.

In all, no I'm not a Padres fan. I'm not quite a Yankees fan. I'm a Luis Torrens (and various other players) fan. And this blog will continue to reflect that. So you can keep your Padres-era Dave Winfields and Yankees-era Dave Winfields, I am not interested in those.

Twitter used a pic of Torrens for the Rule 5 Moments thing

I'd like to end this post on one final note. I awoke on Wednesday following the Rule 5 Draft to DMs and Tweets about Torrens being taken and my well being because of it lol (thanks to all who cared :)). But the real collector who needed help might've been The Lost Collector seeing as how his PC guy Ty Hensley was taken by the Tampa Bay Rays in the triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. When it comes to the minor league portion, once a player is taken they're gone. Barring a trade, Hensley isn't coming back.

There were other Yankees prospects who were taken in the Rule 5 and the Yankees took two in the Rule 5 but at the moment I don't have to care because as far as team allegiances are concerned, I'm a free agent.

9 comments:

Ouch, I scanned the list and somehow missed that Hensley was taken. You guys are having a rough week.Didn't the Yankees somehow have five guys selected yesterday? Honestly, that shouldn't happen. The front office has to realize what they are sitting on and trade some of their assets for either major league talent or for players who don't need to protected, before the Rule V draft. It's unfortunate.I still haven't decided what to do with my Vogelbach collection at this stage. Every time I make a decision some one says something like, "be really tempted when a really nice Padres card of his pops up." I hadn't thought of that. Thanks, ZZ.

Unfortunately the Yankees were robbed last year in the Rule 5 too, and this is a repercussion of having a loaded farm system. Maybe they might change the format one day, but for now I'm okay with Yankees prospects getting better chances in other systems.

Whatever you decide to do with the Vogelmonster collection, I hope it just continues to bring you happiness PTT.

It was surprising to see the Reds take him and the Padres trade for him. Usually when teams take fliers on A ball level guys it is a pitcher. You can stash him in the bullpen and only use him in mop up roles. With a catcher you expect him to play. My guess is the Padres are going to workout a deal with the Yankees in order to keep his rights. Everyone loves good catcher defense.

I'm pretty sure there's never been a Yankees fan (in MLB history) to make the switch to being a Padres fan. Actually... you're more likely to meet a unicorn than a fan who switches from their team to the Padres. It just doesn't happen. Padres fans are either born Padres fans. Marry a Padres fan... and get brainwashed. Or took a vacation to San Diego... went to Petco... and decided what the heck... maybe I'll root for the home team. And then there's my situation... where I started off being a Tony Gwynn fan and it eventually evolved into being a fan of the team.